iPad Pro M5 Speaker quality, not great

[Digitalguy]

I just got the 13" M5 and haven't noticed any subpar quality with the speakers.

The speakers on the 13" M5 are great, just a little bit less loud than on the M4 13"

 

[schneeland]

I recently replaced a 12.9" iPad Pro 2020 with a 13" iPad Pro M5, and I would say that it is indeed a step down in sound quality. But overall, I still find them good enough (I find sound to be better in landscape than portrait orientation with the M5 model, which probably aligns with how the expected default orientation has shifted).

 

[Jackbequickly]

AirPods!

 

[killhippie]

Indeed seems you got a magic device at most people have confirmed that speakers remained unchanged

I know this is a very old post to reply to but II did say that my M4 might have been a dud as the sound quality on the M5 is much better. I didn’t actually say the M5 had better speakers. Try reading not assuming you read somebody’s post.

 

[ScanTheNavian]

When I first got the M4 I thought speakers were worse than on the M1 but the difference was minor. Also, something I noticed in the test is that the M2 is slightly better than the M1 (I remember they were identical), and that the M4 now sounds the best or at least as good as the M2 and the M5 is slightly worse than the M4.

Interestingly I read a lot of opinions where people thought the model before the M1 iPP was far better. I haven't heard the previous one, but I have an M1 and while I like it, there's this sort of muffled-ness on lower levels. It sort of sorts itself out when you go above half though. But it did bother me in the beginning as I felt like the sound would have been far better if it would have had a less "tinny" feel. I'm not a HiFi-kind of guy so I can't really explain it well.

When it comes time to upgrade it I'll be very particular about that aspect as I use mine a lot without headphones. Especially on the bus.

 

[Unami]

I had an Air 2 (not M2) before and expected more from my new M5 because of the whole "4 speakers"-marketing, and was quite underwhelmed. There's only so much you can do in that form factor, but yes, the speakers are "not great" - they are o.k. but not at all volume levels. Also, battery life is the worst of any iPads I ever had (OG iPad >> Air1, Air 2, all with cellular > now M5 Wifi) -> that might come from a more demanding OS and software but it's still very noticeable. Real ~10 hours of battery life in the OG, even when playing then demanding games vs maybe half of that with the pro.

 

[burgman]

Just picked up a base 11” iPad Pro M5 with cellular yesterday and I like everything about it but the speakers. Everything sounds muddled and like there is something blocking the treble. I am coming from a 2019 iPad Air 3 which sounds much clearer. Is there a setting somewhere where I can adjust the treble? It’s just so bad. That’s not to mention the device actually vibrates the chassis too which is not pleasant to hold, makes it feel cheap. I watch TV or YouTube all the time from my iPad so this is a big deal to me. Voices sound bad too on FaceTime, muddled and no brightness/treble. Any suggestions?

That vibration feels weird alright. Like a low level shock

 

[novagamer]

Everyone complaining about this should write directly to tcook@apple ...he is obsessed with customer sat, and his team will file complaints. They don't go into a dustbin, I know from personal experience.

A thousand people who write to them could actually make a change in the next product, Apple has internal metrics that track this sort of thing but complaints here aren't going to get to the people who can make changes.

I agree it's a downgrade generally. I'm glad more people are noticing.